Frasier

Monday night November 19th, 2007 at 7:30 Frasier Allen our 17 yr old mixed dog wanted to go do his business outside. He has very poor eyesight and poor hearing and a wobbly gait from arthritis and an episode with idiotic vestibular syndrome he had last year. He usually goes out ... does his business walks the yard a bit and returns to the door. It was lightly raining and cold so when he wasn't at the door ten minutes later we went out to call to him. He can't hear but can sometimes pick up my husbands loud whistle or we can flicker the outside lights to get his attention. We had no response. My adult kids had been visiting so several of us armed with flashlights went out searching. We searched our yard (2 acres), the neighbors, the streets, the woods ... everywhere for over 2 hours. Just too dark and no place else to look. We felt he couldn't have gone far because of being so frail.
The next day at daybreak...the searching began again. Same places ... now stretching to new areas, called the shelters...the vet....and put flyers out to all the neighbors. We found nothing. We were beside ourselves. We felt no way could he have lived thru a full night and full day of cold rainy weather. But he was no where to be found. We finally convinced ourselves that instinct made him go away and hide and die. There was also the possibility of a bad run in with wildlife here but we didn't want to think that. However whatever happened to him I wanted him back. I wanted to bury or cremate him if he had passed..I didn't want him out there alone in any form.
I belong to a chihuahua list that has wonderful people on there. They prayed and prayed and kept at me not to give up hope and try to be optimistic. They were such a comfort. I had listed him missing on petfinder and Wednesday morning got contacted from someone trying to scam me for money. Because of that I refused my friends advice to add him to any other sites. That hurt so much being tricked. One wonderful person the list persuaded me to let her put him missing on a few sites that she felt were legit and wouldn't breed scammers. I finally agreed and sent her info and his picture. At this point I felt he just went away to die and I had to respect his choice. An hour or so later this same wonderful person called me on the phone and said she arranged a telephone meeting with Annette all paid for ... just call ... Annette would recognize my name and could possibly help. I was skeptical. This all takes such a toll on ones nerves and mind and you just don't know what to think. I said I would give it some thought and speak to my husband. I talked to him immediately ... he was a skeptic for sure and said maybe we shouldn't. We both just looked at each other and said "do it" I asked him to talk to her. I was so afraid that she might tell me something gruesome happened to Frasier and I'd collapse. He agreed. They had a pretty healthy chat. She asked a lot of questions. This made him raise his eyebrows ... thinking .. what else could she possibly tell ME if I am telling her all this. Then she tells him that Frasier is alive. She said he would go in an opened barn door to escape the weather and spend time with a cat. She said he had water and she said his back legs were aching. Then she gave directions to where to find him. That's why she asked all those questions. She needed the lay of the land. My husband got off the phone. He said ... we already searched this area but we'll go back again. My son was home and went with him. They went thru the woods and while my son checked the woodline where they already had checked but thought she meant there again .... my husband decided to cross the fields to another horse farm and check the woods there. As he got closer he saw a little white animal roaming. He thought that it could be a sheep .... but he started his whistle and started running faster. It was FRASIER! The dog looked up at him like "where the heck have you been? what took you so long?" My husband whistled and called to my son to run back thru the woods and get the car. The terrain thru these fields was brutal and both my husbands and Frasiers legs aren't in good shape.
I called the wonderful lady from my chihuahua list and we both cried like babies. All this probably transpired in an hour. This was on Wednesday the day before Thanksgiving. My family and friends are truly amazed at this story. We had so much to be thankful for. So much thanks to Annette, the wonderful lady, my friends and family members who prayed and kept good thoughts for his return. I have been getting emails and phone calls from people who have heard about this. Many were skeptics like my husband. He is not anymore ..... and actually has been in a fog several days from being so stunned by this.
PS: Frasier Allen in never allowed outside without supervision again. His dementia must have increased from mild confusion to a more serious issue now. Who cares ... we love him any way we can have him.
Denise